John also lives in the Shangri-La valley. He has spring weather 24-7-365.25 along with perfect humidity balance. blazeaglory : -- John has always emphasized the important need of heavy feeding for Meyer lemon trees. The 2 real big advantages I have going for my tree are: I have mastered growing in an over sized pot with out the wet root problems associate with such. Second, I provide the tree with high quality light during the indoor season of my zone 6a. I take it you do also share the same success by maintaining a growing medium chock full of nutrients be it a potted or in ground tree. Would you share a picture of your tree with a detailed description of your growing practices. What kind of feed do you use. Thanks for the compliment on my well fed tree. The picture below shows my 3 sweetlee's at 1 year from seed with the light grow box they reside in for 5 months each year. The link gives a very good description on the trees and the box they grow in that allows them such good growth. Steve . Here is a link that might be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaASoeaBErs This post was edited by poncirusguy on Wed, Aug 20, 14 at 13:19

There's no picture attached.

Okay, all excellent advice from both cayden and always from Jean. Additional suggestions: You need to drop crotch prune your tree, as it's getting just too tall. Lemons are notorious for sending up these vigorous water sprouts, so take the tree down in height using drop crotch pruning. If you don't know how to do this, see if you can find a GOOD tree pruning specialist who knows how to do this correctly. Your tree's root system is going to be challenged due to all that concrete, so keep the size of your tree down. Plus, it makes it safer to pick your fruit. Next, you must minimize the pool splash. That chlorinated water is bad news for the roots. Get to a good quality garden center and buy a high quality citrus fertilizer (I would suggest GroMore Citrus & Avocado Food) and apply once a month until you see your tree starting to respond with new flush. Don't be surprised if you see the older leaves drop, that's fine, just look for new flush. Once you see new flush, you'll be able to cut back to fertilizing once every other month. Use at least the amount recommended for the size of your tree. Lemons are heavier feeders than other citrus due to their prolific fruiting tendencies. Treat for ants to keep out aphids. You can remove aphids if you see them in the spring on the tender new growth by hosing the tree off with a hard blast of water. We talk about CLM constantly on this list, so just search for CLM or Citrus Leafminer on this forum. I think I've posted about 6 times in the last week, so not worth re-posting the same info :-) Besides, too late to treat from CLM at this time, you're seeing the aftermath and not an active infestation. And frankly, I don't even treat my mature trees, and it really is more cosmetic with an older tree. Don't worry about whiteflies, I've never seen them bother citrus. Lastly, I'd get 2 to 4 bags of high quality compost, and mulch your poor tree, then top with some back to help retain moisture. Your tree needs nutrients. Composting every season will help with any soil pH issues, which really isn't an issue here for us in S. California. Our trees do just fine without an pH adjustments, as our soil pH isn't that high. However, that being said, your soil pH can get higher next to the foundation of your house, from lime leaching out from the concrete. I also see some snail damage, so put down some Sluggo around the base of the tree (safe for kids and pets, fatal for snails and slugs.) And, the fruit split is due to uneven watering during our really, really hot summer and fall.. Just pull off the split fruit, it will attract insects and infection. Patty S

Sham, from what I see with the leaves, it looks like Citrus Leafminer. Very easy to diagnose this by look at the underside of the leaves. See if you have little squiggly tunnels in your leaves. This will not affect the health of a mature tree like yours, just make the leaves look ugly. You can treat for it if you like. Just search this forum for "Citrus Leafminer" or "CLM" and you'll see many messages about how to treat with a combination of Spinosad and Volk Oil, or by a systemtic application of Bayer Advanced Fruit Tree insecticide (Imidicloprid). Holes in the leaves can certainly be caused by snails, which can cause significantly damage citrus trees. Look for snails hiding on the undersides of your leaves, slimy snail trails on your leaves, snail poop, etc. Treat with Deadline at the base of your trees, and hand pick all the snails out of your trees. Bayer Advanced will also help to kill snails you can't reach or find. Now, your fruit. Very interesting. This actually looks more like just some normal sporting to me. Lemons and citrons can do this. Not sure what the black stuff might be, besides mold, and caused by a break in the fruit skin at some time. But, to be safe, I would contact your local ag agent and see what they have to say. You can contact your local CDFA agent by going to their web site. It is worth having your tree looked at, just to make sure what we're seeing isn't damage from the Asian Citrus Psyllid, and possible infection from HLB via the psyllid. Patty S.